Sonny Landreth

Southwest Louisiana-based guitarist, songwriter, and singer Sonny Landreth is a musician's musician. The blues slide guitar playing found on his two Zoo Entertainment releases, Outward Bound (1992) and South of I-10 (1995) is distinctive and unlike anything else you've ever heard. His unorthodox guitar style comes from the manner in which he simultaneously plays slide and makes fingering movements on the fretboard. Landreth, who has an easygoing personality, can play it all, like any good session musician. His distinctive guitar playing can be heard on recordings by John Hiatt, Leslie West and Mountain, and other rock & rollers.

Landreth was born February 1, 1951, in Canton, Mississippi, and his family lived in Jackson, Mississippi, for a few years before settling in Lafayette, Louisiana. Landreth began playing guitar after a long tenure with the trumpet. His earliest inspiration came from Scotty Moore, the guitarist from Elvis Presley's band, but as time went on, he learned from the recordings of musicians and groups like Chet Atkins and the Ventures. As a teen, Landreth began playing with his friends in their parents' houses.

"They would ping-pong us from one house to another, and though we were all awful at first, as time went on we got pretty good. It's an evolutionary process, just like songwriting is," Landreth explained in an interview on his 44th birthday in 1995. After his first professional gig with accordionist Clifton Chenier in the '70s (where he was the only white guy in the Red Beans & Rice Revue for awhile), Landreth struck out on his own, but not before he recorded two albums for the Blues Unlimited label out of Crowley, Louisiana, Blues Attack in 1981 and Way Down in Louisiana in 1985. If anyone is living proof of the need to press on in spite of obstacles, it is Landreth. The second of those two albums got him noticed by some record executives in Nashville, which in turn led to his recording and touring work with John Hiatt. That led to still more work with John Mayall, who recorded Landreth's radio-ready "Congo Square." More recently, he's worked with New Orleans bandleader and pianist Allen Toussaint (who guests on several tracks on South of I-10, as does Dire Straits guitarist Mark Knopfler).

On Landreth's brilliant albums for Zoo, the lyrics draw the listener in to the sights, sounds, smells, and heat of southwest Louisiana, and a strong sense of place is evident in many of Landreth's songs. Although his style is completely his own and his singing is more than adequate, Landreth admits that writers like William Faulkner have had a big influence on his lyric writing. The fact that it's taken so long for academics at American universities to recognize the great body of poetry to be found in the blues concerns Landreth as well. Robert Johnson is Landreth's big hero when it comes to guitar playing. "When I finally discovered Robert Johnson, it all came together for me," Landreth said, noting that he also closely studied the recordings of Skip James, Mississippi John Hurt, and Charley Patton. Landreth finally released an all- instrumental album, Elemental Journey, in 2012, his eleventh solo project. ~ Richard Skelly, Rovi

Pandora recently added the studio version of Congo Square to my mix. I like it but it's more of a zydeco sound than the live version which really captures the spooky voodoo-New Orleans thing much better.

What a BEAUTIFUL player and singer He is HEARTFELTY deep smoothand a real GEM! I just couln't believe his style when I just heard it I bought his CD... WOW! What a surprise for me and what a great GIFT of a voice and player this BOY trully IS! Thank-you SONNY BOY! U r IT!

2 years ago

pandora113664

Wow. I'd heard Sonny Landreth's name before, took him for a studio guitarist I'd probably heard a million times without knowing it, but Pandora just gave him a brand new fan. This dude smokes!!

Congo Square. Turn the volume up to eleven and play it on a high watt amp and big-a** speakers, not some cheezy compressed Ipod system in a docking station. That is what music is supposed to sound like.

ALL TOP GUITARIST LISTS ARE CRAP. EXCELLENCE IN MUSIC IS MEASURED BY TOO MANY ATTRIBUTES TO HAVE ANY ONE PERSON BE #1 OR #5. Such lists are garbage and foster an ignorant attitude in rock/pop musicians.

Pure ,silky,edgy,unique lead like nobody before OR now. Must hear live.David Ransom (Bass) who has been his sidekick forever is tremendous in his own right......and besides all that---- they are grounded, humble,& still play w/ same intensity as thy did when they were at Lafayette High. Anyone that is serious about music, must dial in .....

This guy is indeed one cool, blues playing cat! Something else that should be noted is that he has been playing with Jimmy Buffett and the Coral Reefer Band for the past several summers when the Parot Heads gather for the annual tour. The man has many talents indeed!!

well slide is cool but that is not my concern,what i will say is what i saw this guy do,i think it was eric clapton blues fest,this guy was speed picking in between his slide licks,and that is something i never seen anyone do,*****totally unique***

Ok, ok, - one of the best. To me he is like the Jaco Pastorious of slide playing. It's his originality and unique approach (as stated earlier) that appeals to me. Of course this can also be said of Jeff Beck as well. There are many slide greats coming from a Blues base but not many that took the roots and modernized them while still incorporating them the way Sonny has - still my favorite though.

4 years ago

avocadolemon

Calm down guys. Musician's musician may be a bit hackneyed but it means that he is unique and that other musicians (even Derek Trucks) can learn from him. Other musician's look to this guy and a handfull of others as the best. There are a lot of slide guitarists out there playing predictable stuff and selling tons of records, but musicians don't respect them nearly as much because they know it's canned stuff that anyone can emulate with practice. Not so with Mr. Trucks and Mr. Landreth.

The best? You've got to consider Derek Trucks and Roy Rogers and Jeff Beck does some pretty nice slide work but you can probably leave him off the list becasue of everythng else he does...I could see saying, one of the best. Even in the top three maybe. But the very, very best...for me it's a three way tie. Even Warren Haynes introduced him as "one of the best slide players."

The best slide player to come along since Duane Allman. Unique and very original approach. You can here the bayou in his playing.

5 years ago

wvcottrell

If you aren't yet a Sonny Landreth fan, check out his instrumental tune "Spider Gris" on the album "Levee Town". Then you will be. Follow that up by listening to John Hiatt songs which feature Sonny. Best Hiatt song ever, "Slow Turning" has great licks by Sonny.

This guy is really good! Cool!! Now, all we have to do is find the guy who had to go and call him a "musicians musician" and beat some sense into him in the hopes that he NEVER uses that insipid term again, and all will be well with the world.

Sonny is such a wonder rockin' blues guitar monster. Gimme more please!

5 years ago

dagoff12

the only cd i have ever bought

5 years ago

kaygee1234

Sonny is fantastic! He's down to earth and has a super personality...enjoyed him immensely at First Thursday in Baltimore 2 or 3 years ago. Hope to see him again at the Blues Festival in Louisiana!

6 years ago

pobrat

I've seen him...and he's incredible. It seems as though he's a quiet sort of guy who feels out his audience. Once he's comfortable, the music flows like liquid gold..and so do the jokes. He's got a great sense of humor! Can't wait to see him again.